ANTI-WAR SINGER SCORES A HIT WITH CADETS

Hundreds of cadets in dress-gray uniform joined Bob Dylan in singing the anti-war anthem "Blowin' in the Wind" during a concert at the U.S. Military Academy that blew the minds of past and present cadets.

Dylan, who first recorded the song nearly three decades ago, played to about 4,000 people Saturday night, several hundred of them cadets.Cadets pumped their arms, picked on imaginary guitars and danced in the aisles. It was Dylan's first appearance at West Point.

"I've been here for four years and this is the best time I've ever had," said senior Steven Cavioli Jr. "To get cadets to unleash is really something and Bob Dylan did it tonight. We're not politically agreeing with Bob Dylan. We're just shifting all that stuff aside and enjoying his music."

Dylan saw nothing out of the ordinary in playing at the military academy, said spokesman Elliott Mintz.

"The nature of the venue is not of great importance to Bob. He's just Bob," Mintz said.

Dylan fans were in disbelief at the concert's setting, which they described as "the belly of the beast."

Lucian Truscott IV, a West Point graduate whose novel "Dress Gray" is a scathing portrait of cadet life, noted that the academy prepares its cadets "so when you're 45 or 50, you can be the national security adviser."

"The idea that they'd introduce Bob Dylan into that is amazing," he said.